Panic
by liamarehorselover
Summary: Dean has a panic attack. Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews welcome.


Written for the 6th Dean Hurt- Comfort Meme at Hoodie_time at livejournal for this prompt "Dean has a PTSD related panic attack somewhere public. Sam isn't there, but a military veteran who has PTSD recognizes what is happening and helps Dean through it. Then afterwards they vaguely talk about it, with the vet assuming that Dean was in the military as well."

"Breathe kiddo."  
>The man's hand on his back is gentle, and soft, and surprisingly enough, does not remind him of Alastair. He's rubbing soft little strokes on the space between his shoulder blades, talking to him, low and quiet. He's not following the conversation, (Something about horses) but the man's voice is strong and it's slowly starting to make the start to slide back, make the loud noises around him that were supposed to be a fireworks display, supposed to be patriotic, calm.<br>"That's it. Keep your head down, all right? Just stay calm for a minute. I'm gonna get you - "  
>The man moves to stand up, but Dean panics and reaches for his shirt, not caring how girly and pathetic it makes him seem.<br>"Hey, hey now, it's all right. I'm not going anywhere, kiddo. I'm just trying to get to your phone there, see if I can call someone. You want me to call someone."  
>He tries to make himself speak, but can't quite manage it, his voice all locked up just like it's been the last three times this has happened. Of course Sam was there last time. He knew what to do. This time...<br>He just nods, and the man takes the phone, starts scrolling through contacts. "Who do you want kiddo? I've got Bobby, Dad, and Sam."  
>He nods at the last. Bobby's in South Dakota and Dad's dead. Makes Sam first on a short list.<br>The man hits talk and has a brief conversation with Sam, all the while keeping a gentle hand rubbing back and forth on his back. He doesn't say anything, not even when he has to loosen Dean's grip on his shirt so he can keep his balance. Once he hangs up he tells him, "Sam said to tell you he'll be there as soon as he can, just hold tight, all right?"  
>Another nod, then a hesitant try of his voice, "Thanks."<br>"It's not a problem. Fireworks do that to you sometimes. Have a best friend who has to take an Ambien and sleep through 'em."  
>The man reaches out to shake his hand, telling him, "Names Curt. Don't figure we were properly introduced."<br>"Dean."  
>He doesn't give anymore and Curt doesn't press, just asks, "You wanna try some water?" He starts to shake his head no, because that would mean Curt leaving, but the man tells him, "It's right here. No one's gotta move. Might make you feel better."<br>He agrees, hesitantly, but his hands are shaking much too hard to hold the bottle, so he lets Curt do it for him, taking little tiny sips and trying not to spill any from the bottle or his eyes. Curt tells him, "It's all right, kiddo. No one expects you to be all together right now. You just get back?"  
>He thinks Curt means Afghanistan and he means hell, but he decides, after a minute or so, that the two aren't exactly mutually exclusive. "No, it's been a couple of years."<br>The man stops to consider, then says, "Suppose you've heard the 'you should see someone'?"  
>"It's not usually this bad."<br>"All right, kiddo. Looks like your brother's here." He hands Dean the bottle and a piece of paper, telling him, "You ever need anything...all right?"  
>Another nod from him, and Sam is there, and he is glad, when his brother doesn't say anything, doesn't even try to make it seem like he's in charge, just picks him up under the arms and wraps his hoodie around him and puts an arm around him. He leans into Sam's chest, drained, while Sam thanks Curt and Curt tells him it's no trouble, "Least he can do for a fellow soldier."<br>He's almost asleep on his feet and Sam is nudging him back to the car when Curt asks, "He army or Marines?"  
>Sam's voice has a wry sort of pain when he says, "Special forces." He drops a kiss to Dean's head and Dean pretends not to be happy about it, "He's special forces."<p> 


End file.
